I watched three and a bit talks on Sunday. First up was Quilts to Mark Milestones by Katie Wilkin.I wasn't quite sure what this meant but it turned out that when their third child, Ben, was born Katie and her husband joked that there would be hardly any pictures of him - third child syndrome. So Katie resolved to make a block a month and to document her progress. So each month she made a log cabin block and take a picture of Ben alongside which would record his development month to month for a year. When Ben received the completed quilt on his second birthday it was clear he regarded it as something special. Katie went on to make a further quilt depicting the weekly hikes she did with other mums and children over the summer holidays. She also showed a temperature quilt made by her friend, Cindy Wiens where different shades represented daily temperatures.
Next up was the wonderful Judy Gauthier's talk on Strategies for Modern Scrap Quilting. She was very clear to listen to. There was a promotional element for her Bungalow shop and books but also lots of information about techniques and fabric choices and ways of incorporating older and ugly fabric in a modern looking quilt. She used a camera to aid little demos which appeared on screen. And she showed lots of quilts to illustrate her points. I was impressed!

Judy and helper with her latest and second book title (which I bought along with the first)

JG Quilt incorporates lots of small scraps

JG Owls

JG: Older scraps transformed by modern
background fabrics.

JG monochromatic palette

JG quilt

JG's personal favourite

I would set these blocks straight
rather than on point

JG quilt

JG quilt

JG quit with blocks as sashing

Final JG quilt here

The third talk went well over time as Sherri Lynn Wood was so passionate about her current preoccupation with Passage Quilts and the Bereavement Process.Her mother's clothes had been shared out between family members and quilts made from them Hers was on the platform for us to see. She liked to maintain the structure of the clothing in the quilts. She had gone on to make bereavement quilts for others, to work with the bereaved in making their quilt or to enable them to make their own. She found in most cases two years at least would elapse before a bereaved person could make their quilts. Other quilts documented divorce or menopause.
I had to give up on the Panel as I couldn't tell what any of the speakers were saying!

I was so delighted to see and hear the big names in person but the most lasting influence on my quilting will probably be Lee Chapell Monroe who rattled off (with illustrations on screen) a whole list of tips, many of which were unknown to me. I wrote them down as fast as I could and will write them up when I get home. An example is:" when sewing a decorative stitch set the machine to a slower speed and sew with the foot right down n the pedal".

Carolyn drew this "in school" (High or College?) and she thought it would make a great fabric . . .

Carolyn (on left)wearing one of her own creations

An early CF quilt showing the fields and trees of her childhood Florida home on a cattle and citrus farm.

Her first stand at Quilt Market

Lee Chapell Monroe's quilts

The subject of Lee Chapell Monroe's talk

Teresa Duryea Wong's talk about the Japanese quilting scene.
The teaching centres around "masters".

The subject of Chawne Kimber's lecture

Chawne Kimber

Presidential portraits featured in CK's talk: Michelle is in a (modern) Patchwork dress!

About Me

I'm a retired ex teacher and librarian and very enthusiastic quilter. I used to regard myself as a quilting librarian, a repository of information leaning towards the traditional side but now my energies are concentrated on using up my stash and completing projects. My skills are average but I continue to learn and improve and I'm quite prolific. I belong to various groups from the national Quilters Guild, to the 300 strong Oast Quilters based in East Kent, Quay Quilters in Faversham who hold a biannual show and the Bonny Quilters foursome who are former machine knitters. I also belong to an informal house group called Usual Suspects. We like to eat lunch and chat and travel together. I also like to get together with a couple of Crab & Winkle friends and spend a day sewing and catching up.
I've attended all the Festivals of Quilts at the NEC and try to attend another national show as well, Sandown or Malvern and The Quilters Guild AGM and Region Two show at Hever. I've also been to Paducah and Sisters twice and Houston three times..